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Player Features and Ideas Discussion

 
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Warp Assist Module

Author
Annette Nolen
Perkone
Caldari State
#41 - 2015-01-20 04:35:09 UTC
Colette Kassia wrote:
But the issue with that is needing to have an escort to counter the exploitation of an artificial game mechanic.


I'm personally fine with needing an escort to counter bumping, which is why I prefer this approach. The aggressors have dedicated one or more ships, planning, etc. to the effort, it should not be something you can escape without friends/alts too. I think your suggestion is actually OP because of this; a solo freighter/cap ship should NOT be able to escape a well-executed bump.

The reasons a webber is not sufficient as the counter-bumping escort have been covered in this thread pretty clearly. Also the reasons manually piloting is not a valid counter as well. People in freighters have been locked down for HOURS despite having webbers on-grid and interceptors trying to give them moving warp-outs. That's why I'm proposing a module that will address the issue mechanic to mechanic.
Nolak Ataru
Hedion University
Amarr Empire
#42 - 2015-01-20 05:38:54 UTC
Left click on freighter. Click "Look at". Pan camera so it's facing your current vector. OH MWD and double click in space. Wait 30 seconds (depending on skills and implants), tab back to freighter, right click > warp. Tada.

I've been a part of multiple freighter ganks, and we've NEVER bumped a freighter in a direction other than the one it's currently sailing at 1km/s. Stop asking CCP to change something that has a obvious solution/counter. This is not Hello Kitty Online.
afkalt
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#43 - 2015-01-20 07:46:57 UTC  |  Edited by: afkalt
Oscae wrote:
However, what happens when an organised group of people get together and make an effort to bump you out of align to gank you. Your mod now makes all of their hard work redundant as you disregard physics and slingshot yourself to the nearest celestial. Sure they can follow you, but what's to say you're not already aligning back to gate with a webber freind to speed things up?

How can your proposal help in the first situation but not be a pain to balance for the second?


Scrams and points still work in high sec, perhaps the gankers could adapt? I mean, seriously it's not like bumping is the only way to stop someone aligning/warping - it's not like you're going to crash the ship back to a gate or into a POS shield or something.


Nolak Ataru wrote:
This is not Hello Kitty Online.


This is a good point, one you would do well to remember as you deprive a pilot of control of their ship with zero repercussions whilst you hide behind concord.



Given the risk around bumping, which is currently ZERO, can anyone explain why should it not be trivial to circumvent with friends using a method that does not rely on the vagaries of the client? If you want to keep someone on field do what everyone else does: man up and flag up. I mean we all understand risk reward balance right? Where is my risk for being able to lock down a ship without the need for any combat flagging?

This is the fundamental issue here - there is literally no risk whatsoever to the activity - that breaks a cornerstone of eve.
Rockstede
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#44 - 2015-01-20 09:16:50 UTC
baltec1 wrote:
Annette Nolen wrote:
baltec1 wrote:
Annette Nolen wrote:
baltec1 wrote:
A web ship escorting a freighter Already does this job.


Nope, it doesn't. Webbing is an avoidance technique. Once bumped, webbing is useless.


Thats the counter, you enter warp so fast they cant bump you.


So you are officially agreeing that there is NO mechanics counter to being bumped at the moment? None? It is 100% effective once initiated, and that the only valid counters in the game right now are, in fact, avoidance techniques to ensure bumping never begins and not actual counters to the mechanic of bumping itself?

Just clarifying.


No.

As said you can get a fast ship out in front of a bumped freighter and simply warp it away from the bumpers.

Alternatively you can counter bump said bumpers.

Webbing the freighter means they won't be bumping it in the first place.



Actually an experienced bumper is also looking at the wider picture, they can see the ship parked 150+km away and bump contrary to it's alignment. Webbing a freighter that is being bumped achieves precisely squat.


The point the OP is trying to make and one that I support is that the bumpers can lock you down 100%, which is not fair. Bumping is a perfectly valid mechanic as already stated but as with almost every other mechnanic ingame it needs a counter.

Consider the following...

High DPS ship? Jam it.

High speed ship? web it.

Unbreakable active tank? Neut it.

and then...

Some random dude on the other side of the world decides to move your space pixels contrary to your wishes? jam.. er web... wait.. oh yeah!!

Web the bump... oh I got concorded... uh hmm...

bleh..


Ticket?




It's not that hard to understand the concept.

A valid attack should be counterable with some sort of valid defence.








Anthar Thebess
#45 - 2015-01-20 09:41:58 UTC
No.
Tackled carrier?
Drop suicide cruiser that have enough med slots....
afkalt
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#46 - 2015-01-20 09:47:20 UTC  |  Edited by: afkalt
Because, naturally, no-one EVER brings a dictor or a hictor to a capital kill.....

Jesus christ if that actually worked dont you think a carrier would just refit to stabs and YOLO itself out trolling local all the while? Oddly, no-one ever does that...you know why? Because people use heavy/dictors and all the warp strength in the world doesn't matter an iota.
Black Pedro
Mine.
#47 - 2015-01-20 10:02:21 UTC
Annette Nolen wrote:
Why is this needed?

Well, primarily, escaping a bump in a freighter is basically impossible once caught by a competent bumper. You are 100% trapped. Your only option is to muster a gank fleet to pop the bumper. I would like there to be a LEGAL mechanism to turn bumping into a less black and white activity.

But but but... you can already avoid high-sec bumping by X, Y, Z...!

Yeah... no. Perfect intel, scouting, and webbing isn't a 100% effective way to avoid being trapped by a bumper. There are two systems in high-sec EVE that cannot be avoided BY DESIGN and everyone knows this and how to lock 'em down. Nevermind that a bumping mach can outwarp a freighter and get ahead of it pretty easily regardless of where it's headed. Most importantly, those are options to AVOID bumping. Not to COUNTER bumping. This is a mechanism intended to provide a gameplay mechanic to counter bumping, as there currently is none.

Why do you assume that freighters should be able to do everything in highsec? Ships have strengths, weaknesses and thus various purposes in New Eden. For some hauling jobs I use a Providence, but for others I use an Epithal, an Impel or a warp-stabbed Interceptor. Using the right ship for the job (and with the appropriate fit) is a major part of what makes this game interesting. Nerfing bumping so that an AFK freighter is always the correct choice does nothing to make the game better.

Now this idea isn't as bad as some other "fixes" to the bumping issue as it still requires an escort, but it still has the same the ultimate effect of making freighters the only reasonable choice to use in highsec by reducing their primary (only?) weakness.

Freighters are capital ships that can have massive EHPs, carry large amount of cargo, but are slow and vulnerable to bumping. That is what the ship is. Use them when it is appropriate for your needs and risks you face, and use something else when it is not. It is simple as that.

Many a Titan has been lost because bumping prevented them from entering warp. Why do highsec haulers feel this fundamental mechanic that has been a weakness for capital ships for the history of Eve should be changed now, just so they don't have to fly the other ships that are immune to bumping? They have plenty of options on the table to avoid bumpers, do we really need a "counter" that will probably be rarely used, and when it is just result in more safety for an already safe profession?
afkalt
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#48 - 2015-01-20 10:18:48 UTC
How is an afk hauler going to call for and coordinate the friends required to use this proposed module?

No-one (sane) is asking for freighters to be able to do everything - just that one with friends and appropriately fit ships should demand that people wanting to kill it needing to use hard tackle. I do not think that is unreasonable.

Is it so unreasonable to expect people to use ACTUAL tackle mods?
Black Pedro
Mine.
#49 - 2015-01-20 10:38:22 UTC  |  Edited by: Black Pedro
afkalt wrote:
Is it so unreasonable to expect people to use ACTUAL tackle mods?

It is in highsec unless you want freighter ganking to drop an order of magnitude in frequency. Bumping is the only way to lock down a freighter for enough time to get a gank fleet of sufficient size to overcome a freighter's EHP. With out it, gankers would have to always tag up their security status and sit on or near gates and even still, likely only ever catch AFK freighters. An at-the-keyboard freighter pilot would be near 100% safe, even fully cargo-fit.

I'm not saying it would be impossible, just much less frequent. Freighter ganking is already incredibly rare, do you really, really think increasing freighter safety even more would be good for the game overall?
afkalt
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#50 - 2015-01-20 10:56:20 UTC
What? They'll have to tag up anyway as they're...you know....shooting the thing. Those at -10 might actually feel the consequences of being that status making hanging about harder. I'm toiling to find sympathy here as being able to bump without flagging or decent counter means that they can wait until their leisure and warp quickly effectively bypassing the low status problems.

I doubt bumping is the ONLY way to kill a freighter for a coordinated group but either way it's also enough time for a single DPS pilot to chew out the EHP. I think a happy medium can be found, something feels wrong with the current mechanic (like...all the risk is missing).

Furthermore, nothing stopping the gankers killing the assist ships and then bumping, just diverge/adapt a bit. Equally people can lock and volley shuttles and interceptors, I don't think it's a stretch to see them locking and scramming a freighter if they are organised - and why should people not need to be organised? Heck this could even ignore the warp core strength part and all they need is a single point - I reckon that's doable Blink

A single pilot can do nothing with this - this requires bringing friends and being at the keyboard and adds a missing counterplay to being bumped.




I suppose we could also just let freighters fit MJDs....but then you really reduce the reliance on friends.
Arden Elenduil
Unlimited Bear Works
#51 - 2015-01-20 11:31:59 UTC
Here I was planning to say "here we go again", but we're already into 3 pages of shitposting.
Whelp
Black Pedro
Mine.
#52 - 2015-01-20 11:56:02 UTC  |  Edited by: Black Pedro
afkalt wrote:
Furthermore, nothing stopping the gankers killing the assist ships and then bumping, just diverge/adapt a bit. Equally people can lock and volley shuttles and interceptors, I don't think it's a stretch to see them locking and scramming a freighter if they are organised - and why should people not need to be organised? Heck this could even ignore the warp core strength part and all they need is a single point - I reckon that's doable Blink

Almost everything is "doable" but that doesn't change the fact making something much more difficult (like removing bumping for freighter gankers) is going to reduce the number of players doing it.

I'm not going to get into the rest of this as it seems difficult to have a rational discussion with those arguing in this forum out of self-interest.

But the reality is that freighter ganking happens so rarely. I just checked, and even Red Frog, the OP's corp, seems to think so. They quoted me a 5.5M ISK fee for a 4 jump trip through Uedama for 1B worth of goods. That means they estimate their chances of making that trip safely at greater than 99.45% at a minimum (1-(5.5/1000)), and probably much greater as they are a for-profit company.

I give the OP credit for trying to propose a mechanism that would increase the diversity of gameplay in Eve, but if Red Frog thinks they have a better than 99% chance of getting through one of the most dangerous highsec systems (probably more like 99.9% with profit built-in), do we really need a new module which the primary effect on the game will be to increase the safety of freighters in highsec even more?
Crumplecorn
Eve Cluster Explorations
#53 - 2015-01-20 12:09:23 UTC  |  Edited by: Crumplecorn
I am intrigued by this idea that freighters, when bumped, start to randomly change direction mid-flight, making frigate alignment impossible.

It sounds like this would make follow up bumps harder as well, although it's difficult to judge, since I've not seen the client do anything like this ever.

I have also noted that someone from Red Frog has trouble avoiding freighter ganks.

Witty Image - Stream

Not Liking this post hurts my RL feelings and will be considered harassment

Nolak Ataru
Hedion University
Amarr Empire
#54 - 2015-01-20 13:22:35 UTC
afkalt wrote:
Nolak Ataru wrote:
This is not Hello Kitty Online.


This is a good point, one you would do well to remember as you deprive a pilot of control of their ship with zero repercussions whilst you hide behind concord.

That pilot gave up control of his ship when he went AFK, loaded 20b worth of stuff in to a freighter, and/or when he undocked. As many have joked, undocking = consenting to PVP no matter where you are.
baltec1
Bat Country
Pandemic Horde
#55 - 2015-01-20 13:31:38 UTC  |  Edited by: baltec1
Annette Nolen wrote:


I'm sorry you disagree with reality, but that IS what happens when a freighter is bumped. The EVE client gets *very* confused about alignment.



No it doesn't get confused and no that does not happen.


Annette Nolen wrote:

A Bat Country representative should not be stooping to deception about the mechanics of ganks. You know as well as I do that a single pre-spawned CONCORD squad will barely diminish the DPS output of a full-size gank fleet. More importantly, what exactly does that have to do with bumping? Oh yeah, nothing. So I'm not sure why you'd bring CONCORD into this discussion.



This is very clearly a grr gankers thread therefore my advice is valid. You should also take the time to understand the very basics of ganking before posting rubbish such as you just did.

Annette Nolen wrote:

Don't conflate this thread with one about freighter ganking. It's not.
Yes it is.

Annette Nolen wrote:

I have no interest in arguing about ganking because I have no interest in reducing or nerfing highsec ganking.


Your plan does just that.

Annette Nolen wrote:

I AM interested in keeping bumping around as a valid mechanic.


No you arn't, your plan calls for something that cannot possibly be countered.
afkalt
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#56 - 2015-01-20 13:34:26 UTC  |  Edited by: afkalt
Who said they were afk? AFK != Not having two alts with you.

How can an afk hauler use the proposition in the op??


Imagine if ECM didnt flag and you could stop people firing without recourse.



@Baltec: >No you aren't, your plan calls for something that cannot possibly be countered.

>>Kill the assist ships and bump it. If someone is bringing two webbers and a counter ship or two to protect the freighter, they've damned sure earned the right to be extremely hard to kill imo. And "hard to kill" is nothing more than a prepared gate with a sebo'd tackler or two.
baltec1
Bat Country
Pandemic Horde
#57 - 2015-01-20 13:49:04 UTC
afkalt wrote:


>>Kill the assist ships and bump it. If someone is bringing two webbers and a counter ship or two to protect the freighter, they've damned sure earned the right to be extremely hard to kill imo. And "hard to kill" is nothing more than a prepared gate with a sebo'd tackler or two.


You cannot identify assist ships on busy gates in high sec and we already have several highly effective counters to bumping already that the OP simply refuses to use. What he wants is a device that will make it impossible to hold down a target. Currently a freighter with a web escort is very hard to bump and they have a few options to save the freighter if it does get bumped.
afkalt
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#58 - 2015-01-20 14:14:58 UTC  |  Edited by: afkalt
No, it is only impossible if people refuse to fit hard tackle. Refusing to fit hard tackle and then complaining about people escaping is like complaining when untanked freighters die.

I would assume a visible effect would play out in space a-la RR/capXfer. They're also going to be cycling for 30s before the effect takes hold per the OP so that should be sufficient time to start blapping (or jamming) people, it's also not going to land perfectly at its destination so can be caught there much in the same way that existing slow ships warping to celestials are caught by quicker ones.


I agree it makes it harder, but you're talking about multiple people operating in a pretty organised manner - it should be harder to kill them than some afk, cargo expanded badfit ship.
baltec1
Bat Country
Pandemic Horde
#59 - 2015-01-20 14:18:21 UTC  |  Edited by: baltec1
afkalt wrote:
No, it is only impossible if people refuse to fit hard tackle. Refusing to fit hard tackle and then complaining about people escaping is like complaining when untanked freighters die.

I would assume a visible effect would play out in space a-la RR/capXfer. They're also going to be cycling for 30s before the effect takes hold per the OP so that should be sufficient time to start blapping (or jamming) people, it's also not going to land perfectly at its destination so can be caught there much in the same way that existing slow ships warping to celestials are caught by quicker ones.


I agree it makes it harder, but you're talking about multiple people operating in a pretty organised manner - it should be harder to kill them than some afk, cargo expanded badfit ship.


You cant hard tackle in high sec, why do you think we bump these things in the first place if simply using a scram was viable?
afkalt
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#60 - 2015-01-20 14:24:41 UTC  |  Edited by: afkalt
Not forever no, but you can hold them until concord rock up to shoot people.

I'm leaning towards removing the warp core strength on this mod to be clear. I dont think we need that and that a single point should be adequate.


ed: you bump so you can have multiple cracks at the same target/reduce the burden of coordination on the attackers. Organised defenders having a good counterplay to this is healthy, imo.